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Zimbabwe Warriors face grim Afcon draw

by Staff reporter
22 Jun 2024 at 06:45hrs | Views
Zimbabwe's national football team, the Warriors, faced a setback in their FIFA rankings after recent losses to Lesotho and South Africa, dropping seven places to 129th globally and 38th in Africa. This decline places them in Pot 4 for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifying draw. The draw, set to take place in a fortnight, will seed 48 teams based on the latest rankings.

Pot 1 includes top-ranked teams like Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, and Nigeria, while Pot 2 and Pot 3 feature competitive teams such as Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, and Libya. Zimbabwe's Pot 4 status means they could face challenging opponents like Morocco or Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers.

Despite their ranking, Zimbabwe looks ahead to the draw on July 4 at the SuperSport studios in Johannesburg, South Africa, for a chance to qualify for the Afcon finals in Morocco next year. The competition will involve 48 nations, with group stage matches scheduled across FIFA windows in September, October, and November.

Pot 1: Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, South Africa, DR Congo, Ghana

Pot 2: Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Benin, Angola, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar.

Pot 3: Kenya, Mauritania, Congo, Tanzania, Guinea Bissau, Libya, Comoros, Togo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Central African Republic.

Pot 4: Niger, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Gambia, Burundi, Liberia, Ethiopia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, South Sudan, Chad

Source - newsday